I Fell Pregnant Naturally with “Early Menopause”

Stacey and Dan* both thought it would be easy to fall pregnant when they started trying to conceive, both aged 32. After a year of attempts and two miscarriages, Stacey was told that her low AMH indicated she had undergone early menopause. Another miscarriage and a year later Stacey and Dan began Elizabeth’s program. Now at 35, they have a beautiful baby boy who they conceived naturally. Here is their story.

Welcome to the world: Thomas!

DOB: 2nd of May, 2014

Birth Weight: 3.4 kilograms

When my husband and I decided to try for a baby, we both thought it would be easy to fall pregnant since we were only 32 years of age. After twelve months of trying and a miscarriage at 7 weeks, we made an appointment to see a specialist at an IVF clinic. After many tests were carried out, we fell pregnant naturally that month, though only to miscarry at 11 and a half weeks. We were devastated. On returning to the clinic to collect the test results, we were told that I was considered to have gone through early menopause since my AMH was only 1.8. The specialist thought I might be a Fragile X carrier, which meant that any of my offspring would have a disability. More testing was to be done, though it would take months for the final results. It turned out that I wasn’t a Fragile X carrier, but that we weren’t suitable for IVF, since my egg count was too low. They said our only option was to get an egg donor, if we didn’t fall pregnant again naturally.

We fell pregnant again a few months later, only to miscarry at 5.5 weeks. We then consulted a Genetic counsellor to rule out a genetic problem.

As we were getting desperate, we went to another Fertility clinic. The said the same thing as the first clinic, though did say that we could do “egg batching” and IVF but this would be very expensive (roughly $12,000) and may not necessarily work. We decided to look for an egg donor if not pregnant again within six months.

After a friend recommended Elizabeth, we thought it was worth at least having a consult with her before heading down the egg donor avenue.

We met Elizabeth after trying for two years and found her to be positive and reassuring from the outset. We could tell she knew all the science behind fertility and trusted what she said. We had some more tests done and it turns out we were positive for an infection that hadn’t been identified by the other specialists. My AMH increased to 4.3 after only four months on Elizabeth’s programme, and within another couple of months, we fell pregnant naturally. I had a very easy pregnancy with only a day or two of morning sickness.

We now have a beautiful baby boy, Thomas, born 2nd May 2014 with birth weight of 3.4kg.

We believe that if it weren’t for Elizabeth, we would still be trying for a successful pregnancy. We would recommend Elizabeth to anyone who is looking for a fertility practitioner who has a thorough understanding and a rigorous approach. We are forever grateful for meeting her.